4. Foundations for the Future

You will need a bin bag full of scrunched-up newspaper, with some 'bad
ideas' printed onto sheets of A4 paper that are scrunched up and placed at
the top of the rubbish in the bag so that they're easy to find during the
talk; see below for examples of 'bad ideas'. You will also need a fairly
large Bible, with some key passages bookmarked - again, see below for
suggestions - and a few cardboard boxes (any size - a mixture is best -
anything from wine boxes to tissue boxes). Finally, it's helpful to have a
table, so that the building activity is easier to see.

Ask for two volunteers: they will be the two men in the story. Their job
is to act out the story as they hear you tell it.

Get the rest of the children to practise sound effects for the story:
rain pouring, lightning flashing and thunder booming.

Read the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders, from a children's
Bible or from Butterworth and Inkpen's Stories Jesus Told. Keep the two volunteers
at the front for the next part of the talk.

Who has seen a house being built? What is the most important part of the
building? (Encourage the children towards the answer 'foundations'.) Each
of us builds our lives on foundations: not concrete and steel, but ideas.
We base our lives on ideas, and they make a huge difference to the kinds of
people we are, how we live our lives and how we affect other people.

Put your sack of rubbish on the table (or floor) and ask your volunteers
to build a tower of boxes on it. Then ask them to try again, using the
Bible as the foundation. Give them a round of applause and send them back
to their seats.

If we try to build our lives on a foundation of rubbish ideas, then
we'll have major problems and so will the people around us. What kind of
rubbish ideas were at the bottom of our first attempt at a building? You
might include ideas such as:

Being popular is what matters most.

I'm no good at anything.

There's nothing I can do about being bullied.

Everyone else is fine and I'm the only one who worries about
things.

I need to be more like other people.

If these are the sorts of ideas that you take with you secondary school,
then you're likely to hit problems fairly quickly. What are some of the
ideas in the Bible that was at the bottom of our second building? You might
bookmark some passages such as the following (it can be helpful to print
out the verses on the bookmarks, so that although the children see you
looking up each passage in the Bible, you can read them out immediately and
in an accessible translation such as the Contemporary English Version):

Luke 12.7: God loves you for being you. Jesus says, 'Even the hairs
on your head are counted. So don't be afraid!'

Romans 12.6: Everyone is good at something, even if you think you
haven't yet discovered your gift. The Bible says, 'God has given each of
us different gifts to use.'

Psalm 91.14-15: God promises to look after you and help you. 'The
Lord says, "If you love me and truly know who I am, I will rescue you and
keep you safe. When you are in trouble, call out to me. I will answer and
be there to protect and honour you."'

Deuteronomy 31.8: When things are new and different, everyone worries
- even adults. But when we go into a new situation the Bible makes us a
promise: 'The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will
never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be
discouraged.'

As you say goodbye to this school, it might seem like you're leaving
everything you know behind. But you can be sure that you're not leaving God
behind. He made you, he loves you just as you are, and he has great plans
for you. If you fix his good ideas in your minds, then you can be sure that
the lives you build in your new schools will be great ones. God himself
goes before you and will be with you.

5. Going on a Journey

It would be helpful to have had Psalm 139.1-16 as a reading earlier in the service.
The Contemporary English Version of the Bible provides an accessible
translation.

You will need a large sheet of paper (a tabloid-sized sheet of newspaper
works particularly well, as it tears easily) and the story script. You will also
need to have practised telling the story while making the accompanying
origami shapes.

The Summer holidays are nearly here, and at this time of year we often
travel to distant places for holidays or to visit family and friends.
Sometimes, journeys can see to last for ever. Put your hand up if you've
ever heard - or said! - the following words when you've been on a long
journey: 'Are we nearly there yet?' But journeys can also be fun. Sometimes
our family plays games together on long journeys, like I Spy. What do you
do on long journeys to pass the time? (Take a couple of answers.)

As we travel further from home, further from everything we know, we can
have a mixture of feelings. We might be excited but also a bit scared. One
of the books in the Bible is called the book of Psalms, and it contains
lots of songs and poems that people have written to God. In one of them,
Psalm 139, the writer reminds us that God goes with us, wherever we go.
(Either read verses 1-16 here, or remind the children that they heard it
earlier in the service.) No matter where we go on our journeys, we are not
alone, because God is with us. Even when we're feeling lonely, or as if
nobody is really interested in us, the truth is that our loving Father God
is always with us and counts each one of us as his precious child. Even in
the dark, he's with us - in fact, he made the dark and it's like light to
him. When we're travelling, even if it's hundreds or thousands of miles
from home, he's with us and never leaves us. And if we ask for God's help,
then he will always answer.

Sometimes we go on real journeys, but sometimes we talk about life as a
journey. As we travel though life, we look for things that can bring us
happiness and love and acceptance; we look for the things that really
matter. And sometimes we go looking in the wrong places. We're going to
hear a story now about a man who went on many journeys in search of
happiness and meaning.

The man in our story thought that he could make everything ok by
spending his money on more and more stuff, but then he discovered that he'd
been looking for happiness in all the wrong places. Psalm 139 tells us that
if only we open our eyes, we'll see that the search is over: wherever we
are, God is here with us, and he will be with us wherever we go. Some of
you will be going on a whole new journey after the Summer holidays: instead
of coming back to this school that you know so well, you'll be going on to
secondary school. You'll be looking for new friends and hoping for
happiness. Psalm 139 tells us that even though your new school feels very
new and possibly a bit scary to you now, God will be with you and he has
great plans for you. He made you and he thinks you're amazing - and he will
always be with you.